SA limped out of 2018 with growth below 1%
SA would need sustained growth of at least 5% to make a meaningful dent in the unemployment rate, which is nearing the 30% mark
SA will have limped out of 2018 with growth of below 1%. While expectations are for growth to be marginally higher than in 2017, when growth was revised from a tepid 0.3% to 0.6%, it is clear that President Cyril Ramaphosa missed the mark with ambitious dreams of 3% growth. The reality is that growth will be considerably less than half of that. The latest string of data from StatsSA shows that the economy lifted in December, but overall growth remained woefully below initial forecasts for the year. The GDP figures will be released by StatsSA on March 5. “Data from [last] week suggests a soft end to 2018,” Capital Economics economist John Ashbourne said. As it stands, both the Reserve Bank and the Treasury expect growth of 0.7% for the year — both having halved their growth forecasts during the course of 2018. SA plunged into recession for the first time since the global financial crisis in the first half of the year, which saw economists and institutions alike revise down their grow...
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